New music director takes baton for Toledo Symphony

TOLEDO - Praised for his “immense talent as conductor, musician, and performer” by La Presse, acclaimed Canadian conductor Alain Trudel returns to the Peristyle stage to conduct his first ProMedica Classics Series concerts since being appointed Music Director of the Toledo Symphony.

Trudel will join Van Cliburn gold medalist Jon Nakamatsu for an exhilarating program inspired by the iconic Dies irae motif, performing Liszt’s Totentanz and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The program will finish with Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.

Trudel has conducted every major orchestra in Canada, as well as orchestras in the UK, Sweden, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Japan, Hong-Kong, Malaysia, and Latin America. First known to the public as “the Jascha Heifetz of the trombone” by Le Monde de la musique, Trudel has also been a guest soloist with orchestras worldwide, including Philharmonique de Radio-France, Hong-Kong Philharmonic, Austrian Radio Orchestra, Festival Musica Strasbourg (France), Klangbogen Festival (Vienna), and Akiyoshidai and Hamamatsu Festival (Japan).

“Alain last appeared at the Peristyle in April 2017, when he conducted Tchaikovsky and Dvořák,” says Zak Vassar, president and CEO of the Toledo Symphony. “Little did we know then that he would win the hearts of our musicians, trustees, and administration and become our next music director. I’m thrilled for audiences to see Alain again and glimpse what future concerts will bring.”

Trudel succeeds Stefan Sanderling, who served as TSO's conductor for 15 years.

American pianist Jon Nakamatsu continues to draw unanimous praise as a true virtuoso of the keyboard, whose playing combines elegance, clarity, and electrifying power. A native of California, Nakamatsu came to international attention in 1997 when he was named Gold Medalist of the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the only American to have achieved this distinction since 1981. Nakamatsu has performed widely in North and South America, Europe, and the Far East, collaborating with such conductors as James Conlon, Marek Janowski, Raymond Leppard, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Osmo Vänskä, and Hans Vonk. He also performed at a White House concert hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton.

Performances will take place Friday, March 23, and Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m. at the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle Theater. Tickets are available at toledosymphony.com or by calling the Toledo Symphony Box Office at 419-246-8000.